Systems and methods for video clip creation, curation, and interaction

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are systems and methods for user interaction with and curation of digital media content, such that users are able to specify a particular clip of video content, and utilize the clip in a desired way. The disclosed systems and methods allow users to view video content, select video clips within the video content, save video clips into a collection of video clips, and curate the collection of video clips. The disclosed systems and methods also allow users to view bookmarks indicating the positions of saved video clips within video content, and to interact with video clips within a video player.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/922,646, filed Dec. 31, 2013, which is incorporated herein byreference as if fully set forth herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to digital media, and moreparticularly to systems and methods for individual user, aggregate user,or company curation of video clips.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure may be embodied in a method comprising receivingan original video content; presenting a video clip interface for a userto create a video clip from the original video content; receiving astart point from a user; receiving an end point from a user, the startpoint, end point, and original video content defining a video clip; andsaving the video clip for later playback by a user.

In a particular aspect, the method may further comprise receiving acommand to remove a video clip from the original video content, andplaying the original video content with one or more video clips removedfrom the original video content.

In another aspect, the method may further comprise playing the originalvideo content and presenting a bookmark during playing of the originalvideo content, the bookmark corresponding to the video clip. Thebookmark may correspond to a star and end point of the video clip. In afurther aspect of this embodiment, a video clip interaction option maybe presented when playing of the original video content approaches thebookmark. The video clip interaction option may be a looping option, andthe method may further comprise receiving a command to loop the videoclip via the video clip interaction option and playing the video clip ona repeating loop.

In yet another aspect, saving the video clip may comprise saving thevideo clip to a collection of video clips, and the method may furthercomprise sorting the collection of video clips according to apre-determined criteria. In one aspect of this embodiment, the methodmay further comprise receiving an information tag from a user to createa pre-determined criteria on which the collection of video clips may besorted.

In one aspect, the original video content may be video content that isowned by the user.

In another aspect, receiving a start point and an end point from a usermay further comprise providing assistance to the user in selecting astart point and an end point. Providing assistance to the user inselecting a start point and an end point may be based on one or morequality factors to determine a fitness of a particular frame to act as astart point or an end point. The method may further comprise receiving auser command indicating which of the one or more quality factors are tobe considered in providing assistance to the user in selecting a startpoint and an end point. At least one or more of the quality factors maybe based on at least one or more of the following: dialogue, imagequality, frame audio content, and/or frame image content. It may be thecase that a portion of the video content cannot be selected as a startpoint or an end point.

The present disclosure may also be embodiment in a second methodcomprising receiving an original video content to be played by a mediaplayer; receiving video clip information identifying one or more videoclips within the original video content; and presenting a video playerinterface comprising a primary viewing area in which the original videocontent is played, and one or more video clip indicators which areassociated with one or more video clips and provide a visual indicationof the position of the one or more video clips within the original videocontent. The original video content may be video content that is ownedby a user.

The video player interface may further comprise a video progressindicator which provides a visual indication of the progress of theoriginal video content as it is played, and the one or more video clipindicators may be positioned along the video progress indicator so as toprovide a visual indication of the position of the one or more videoclips within the original video content. The method may further comprisedisplaying a video clip interaction option when the progress of theoriginal video content approaches any of the one or more video clipindicators.

The video clip interaction option may be a looping option, and themethod may further comprise receiving a command to loop the video clip,and playing the video clip associated with the video clip indicatorwhich caused display of the video clip interaction option on a repeatingloop.

In a further aspect of this embodiment, receiving video clip informationidentifying one or more video clips within the original video contentmay comprise receiving one or more video clip suggestions. The one ormore video clip suggestions may be based on video clips selected byother users.

The present disclosure may also be embodied in computer readable mediacomprising an instruction set configured to command a computing deviceto carry out the methods described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings are provided for purposes of illustration only and merelydepict typical or example implementations. These drawings are providedto facilitate the reader's understanding and shall not be consideredlimiting of the breadth, scope, or applicability of the disclosure. Forclarity and ease of illustration, these drawings are not necessarily toscale.

FIG. 1 is an example clip curation interface in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is the clip curation interface of FIG. 1, in which the clipcuration mode has been activated.

FIG. 3 demonstrates a zoom in feature of the clip curation mode of FIG.2.

FIG. 4 demonstrates a clip naming window, in accordance with an aspectof the clip curation interface of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 demonstrates a save confirmation window, in accordance with anaspect of the clip curation interface of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 demonstrates a video clip collection, in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 demonstrates a clip editing feature of the video clip collectionof FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 demonstrates a clip renaming feature of the video clip collectionof FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 demonstrates a clip removal feature of the video clip collectionof FIG. 6.

FIG. 10 demonstrates video clip bookmarking and looping features of theclip curation interface of FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 demonstrates a stop loop feature of the clip curation interfaceof FIG. 1.

FIG. 12 illustrates a sample computing module that may be used toimplement certain features and embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The disclosure provided herein describes systems and methods for usercuration of digital media content.

Video content is a common medium by which entertainment or stories arepresented to viewers. Viewers of video content often have favoritescenes or clips from the video content that they may want to viewrepeatedly or pull up easily without having to navigate through otherportions of the video content. For example, children may have favoritescenes or songs in a video that they want to watch repeatedly, andparents may grow tired of constantly rewinding the particular scene thattheir children want to watch. The disclosed systems, methods, andfeatures address these issues, as well as providing other relatedadvantages.

The present disclosure provides for systems and methods for userinteraction with and curation of digital media content, such that usersare able to specify a particular clip of video content, and utilize theclip in a desired way. A user-specified video clip may be called a“Snippet”™ in this application and shown in the Figures. For example, auser may be able to repeatedly play the selected video clip in a loop,or the user may be able to save the selected clip into a playlist offavorite scenes, or the user may be able to remove a disfavored selectedclip so that the video content plays without the removed clip. In aparticular embodiment, the user may be able to manipulate media contentowned by the user so as to customize the user's viewing experience ofthe media that they own.

FIG. 1 provides a screenshot of a sample video interface 10, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The videointerface 10 comprises a primary viewing area 12 on which video contentis played, and a timeline 16 to indicate the progress of the videocontent via the positioning of a scrubber 18. The scrubber 18 may beselectable by a user so that the user can move the scrubber left orright to move to different time positions within the video content. Theinterface 10 also comprises a clip icon 14 to activate a clipinteraction mode. When a user selects the clip icon 14, the interface 10opens a clip interaction mode, in which the user can select and interactwith a video clip from the video content.

In FIG. 2, the user has selected the clip icon 14 in FIG. 1 to activatethe clip interaction mode. In the clip interaction mode, the timelinescrubber 18 has been replaced by two clip scrubbers 20 a, 20 b. The clipscrubbers 20 a, 20 b are selectable by a user and determine the startpoint (start scrubber 20 a) and end point (end scrubber 20 b) of theclip that the user wishes to select. The area between the start scrubber20 a and the end scrubber 20 b defines a selected clip region. Two clipwindows 22 a, 22 b are also presented within the clip interaction mode.A first clip window 22 a shows an image corresponding to the position ofthe start scrubber 20 a, and a second clip window 22 b shows an imagecorresponding to the position of the end scrubber 20 b.

When the user selects the clip icon 14 to activate the clip interactionmode, the interface 10 may automatically define an initial selected clipregion by placing the start scrubber 20 a at the location of thetimeline scrubber 18, i.e., the current viewing position within thevideo content, and placing the end scrubber 20 b at a pre-determinedlocation beyond the start scrubber 20 a. The pre-determined location maybe a fixed duration of time after the start scrubber 20 a, e.g.,five-minutes after the start scrubber 20 a. The pre-determined locationmay also be a pre-determined “end scene” location indicating a positionat which a scene ends, or some other point at which it may be desirableto end a clip. The user can then move the clip scrubbers 20 a, 20 b towhatever position they desire to capture the desired video clip.

In a more particular embodiment, clips may be limited to a minimumand/or maximum length, e.g., five minutes, and the pre-determined endscrubber 20 b location may be based on the maximum clip length. Forexample, in FIG. 2, the user selected the clip icon 14 at time position20:23 in the video content. The start scrubber 20 a is positioned attime position 20:23, and the end scrubber 20 b is positioned to create aclip of a pre-determined length, i.e., five minutes after the startscrubber 20 a. The user can then move the clip scrubbers 20 a, 20 b towhatever position they desire to capture the desired video clip. As theuser moves the clip scrubbers 20 a, 20 b, the clip windows 22 a, 22 badjust accordingly so as to indicate the image at the selected timeposition in the video content. The user may also be able to adjust theposition of the clip scrubbers 20 a, 20 b, by selecting and moving theclip windows 22 a, 22 b. The user may also be provided with anindication of the duration of the presently selected video clip. Theuser may also be able to lock a scrubber in place once the user hasfound a desired location.

The user may select the play icon 26 to play the currently selectedclip. In a particular embodiment, selecting the play icon 26 may causethe currently selected clip to play repeatedly until the user performssome other action, such as saving the clip, canceling the operation,selecting a pause icon, or refining the clip by moving a clip scrubber20 a, 20 b.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, it may be difficult for a user to manipulatethe clip scrubbers 20 a, 20 b if the user wishes to capture a short clipif the video content is much longer than the desired clip length. Assuch, the interface 10 may further comprise a zooming in function suchthat the interface 10 will provide a zoomed in view of the selected cliparea so that the user can manipulate the clip scrubbers 20 a, 20 b withgreater precision. In one embodiment, the interface 10 may be configuredsuch that if a user moves a selection cursor towards the clip scrubbers20 a, 20 b, the interface 10 automatically zooms in on the selected clipregion. In the depicted embodiment, when the user moves a selectioncursor (e.g., a mouse pointer or touch screen pointer) into region 24,the interface will automatically zoom in.

FIG. 3 shows the interface 10 after the interface has zoomed in on theselected clip region and the clip scrubbers 20 a, 20 b. Using thiszoomed-in view, it becomes easier for the user to more precisely selectthe start and end points of the desired clip.

The video interaction interface 10 may, in certain embodiments, providefurther assistance to the user in selecting a clip. For example, theinterface 10 may include selection assistance such that each video cliphas a desirable start or end point such that the clips do not start orend mid-word, or do not start or end on a blurry frame, or do not cutoff any portion of a musical number, etc. This selection assistance orselection intelligence may be manipulated by the user so that the usercan select which assistive aspects are applied, e.g., dialogue priority,or music priority, or scene priority, or visual sharpness priority.Further, these selection assistance characteristics may be applied bythe video content producers so that the content producers are able toexhibit some level of control over users' ability to interact with thevideo content or to provide suggestions to users, e.g., clips that arepopular among a population of users. For example, video producers mayimplement the requirement that video clips cannot start or end on aparticular frame (e.g., because the frame is blurry, or because thereare clearance problems with a particular frame, or because the frame isin the middle of a word of the dialogue). In this way, video contentproducers are able to control, to some degree, the quality of videoclips created from their video content. For those aspects of selectionassistance that are frame-dependent, particular frames or clusters offrames in the video content may be tagged by a video producer in aparticular way to provide the selection assistance (e.g., a particularframe or set of frames may be tagged as an acceptable or unacceptableclip start or end). Additionally or alternatively, the video clipinterface may include functionality to determine certain characteristicsof the video content to assist in clip selection (e.g., detection of acompletely dark scene indicates end or start of scene).

Once the user has selected their desired clip, they can choose to savethe selected clip using a save icon 28 (shown in FIG. 2). Once the userselects the save icon 28, the user may be prompted to name the clip, asshown in FIG. 4. The user can choose to provide the clip with a specificname, or, a default clip name may be provided. The default clip namemight include the title of the source video content, and/or anindication of the time position of the video clip within the originalvideo content. Once the user successfully saves the clip, the user maybe presented with an indication that the clip has been saved (FIG. 5).

The saved clip information may be stored locally on the user's videoplayer, or remotely, e.g., on a remote data server. In one embodiment,video clips may be saved to a user's collection by simply taking timecodes (a start point and an end point) and saving those time codes inthe library and in the video stream itself. Alternatively, a video clipmay be a separate, independent video file that is exported from theoriginal video content based on the user's start time and end timeselection. Exported video content may be transcoded to a different videoformat, or even a non-video format, such as a GIF file. Saved videoclips may be associated with a particular user or a particular set ofuser credentials (e.g., username and password) such that a particularuser can access their saved clips on any video player. Informationrelating to clips saved by a user may be shared over a network so as toprovide data on which clips are being saved by users. This data may beused to provide useful information to video producers or other users,such as data indicating the popularity of certain video clips. Thisinteractive aspect will be discussed in greater detail below.

FIG. 6 illustrates a collection of saved video clips, in accordance witha further aspect of the present disclosure. When a user selects andsaves a video clip, as demonstrated in FIGS. 1-5, the video clip may beautomatically saved to a collection of video clips 60, shown in FIG. 6.This allows a user, a family, or a business team to make a personalcollection of video clips 60. Each clip may include an image (not shownin FIG. 6) to indicate the content of the clip, a title 64, and aduration indicator 66. The title 64 may be automatically generated, orit may correspond to a clip name specified by a user. Similarly, eachimage may be automatically generated, or selected by the user. Asdiscussed above with respect to assisting a user in selecting the startand end points for a video clip, selection assistance may be provided toassist a user in selecting a thumbnail image (e.g., preference for sharpframes over blurry frames) for a clip or to place certain restrictionson which images may be used as a thumbnail image (e.g., cannot be ablack screen, or cannot be a screen with particular product advertising)for a clip. Each clip may further comprise an overflow icon 68 whichprovides the user with editing options for each clip. In a particularembodiment, video content may be delivered to the user with pre-selectedand/or recommended video clips already populated into the user's clipcollection.

FIG. 7 demonstrates a potential editing interface for editing a videoclip. When the user selects the overflow icon 68 corresponding to thefirst video clip, the user is given the option to “Rename” or “Remove”the selected video clip. If the user selects the “Rename” option, theuser is presented with a textbox to rename the video clip (FIG. 8). Ifthe user selects the “Remove” option, the user may be provided with aconfirmation to confirm that they wish to remove the selected video clip(FIG. 9). Alternatively, if the user re-selects the overflow icon 68, orclicks on another video clip, or performs some other navigation command,the edit mode will be canceled and the user can resume normal navigationof the collection 60. Within the collection, the user may selectmultiple video clips to create a playlist of video clips that can all beviewed consecutively, one after the other.

The user can also search or sort the saved video clips so that they aremore easily navigated. The user may be able to tag video clips withcertain information tags so that they are more easily sorted orsearched. For example, a user may tag all action scenes with the tag“action” or may tag all scenes with a particular actor or actress withthat actor or actress' name so that the collection can be searched orsorted based on actor or actress name. Clips may also be tagged withdifferent users such that multiple users using a single account candistinguish their clips from other users, e.g., using the tag “Dylan'sfavorites” to differentiate from the tag “Jody's favorites.” The usermay also name the video clips in a particular way to make searching orsorting easier. Other examples of tags might include genres, themes,storylines, specific users (so that multiple users can tag theirindividual favorite scenes or preferences), clip types (e.g., favoritesongs, jokes, images), characters, movies/the original video content, orany other organizational method that a user might want. Taggingcategories may be pre-determined and provided to the user, or they maybe customized by the user.

The present disclosure may further comprise an interactive aspect, suchthat video content providers and users are able to interact with oneanother to share video clips or data relating to video clips. Forexample, video content providers may receive information as to how usersare interacting with their video content and which portions of the videocontent are being clipped. Using this information, video contentproviders may be able to suggest other video content containing similarclips. Further, when a user owns or purchases video content, the videocontent provider could use this data to suggest “popular clips” thatother users frequently clip even pre-populate a list of clips into auser's collection. In addition to the popularity of a clip, clips mayalso be suggested to users based on a variety of other characteristics.Some examples might include geographic data, user demographic data(e.g., age and gender), data relating to viewing tendencies of aparticular user (e.g., viewing history), the contents of a user's mediacollection, or any other information that may provide insight into auser's viewing preferences. Users can also interact with each other bysharing their clips and playlists for browsing by other users. In aparticular embodiment, clips may be shared by exchanging video contentdata, start point data, and end point data. In an alternative and/orfurther embodiment, clips may be exported to create new, standalonevideo files of the clip itself.

FIGS. 10 and 11 provide depictions of a further aspect of the presentdisclosure. Once a user has selected and saved clips to theircollection, the interface 10 may automatically detect saved clips for aparticular piece of video content, and create bookmarks at specific timepositions within the video content corresponding to saved video clips.The user may then interact with the video clips in a variety of ways.The user may be presented with the option to turn bookmarks on or off.

In FIG. 10, bookmarks 70 along the timeline 16 indicate the presence ofone or more previously saved video clips. As the user views the videocontent, the user may be provided with options to interact with thepreviously saved video clips. For example, in FIG. 10, the user isprovided with an option to loop a video clip via a pop-up loop icon 72(i.e., “Loop Snippet”). The pop-up loop icon 72 may appear on the user'sscreen when the played video content approaches a saved video clip, andthen may disappear from the screen when the played video content movespast the saved video clip. In a particular embodiment, the pop-up loopicon 72 may stay on the screen for a pre-determined period of timebefore fading from view (e.g., the pop-up loop icon 72 may appear forseven seconds before fading from view). If the user selects the pop-uploop icon 72, the video clip that caused the appearance of the pop-uploop icon 72 will play on a continuous loop until a user command isprovided to stop the loop.

In FIG. 11, the user has selected the pop-up loop icon 72, causing avideo clip to play on a repeating loop. Now that the video clip islooping, the pop-up loop icon 72 transforms into a stop icon 74. Theuser can select the stop icon 74 to stop looping the video clip, andresume normal play of the video content. The stop icon 74 may be visiblefor as long as the video clip is looping, or it may appear when a usermoves a cursor towards a certain position on the display, e.g., if theuser moves their cursor towards the bottom left corner of the display,the stop icon 74 may appear.

The looping interaction described above is an example of one of manypossible ways that user may interact using the video clip interfacedescribed herein. Another example might include creating revisedversions of video content using the video clip function. For example, acollection of video clips may be combined together to create a revisedversion of the video content. Another example might include a “skip”function. The skip function might allow a user to skip from one savedclip to another (thereby “skipping” any non-clipped portions), or theskip function might allow a user to skip over a clipped portion andcause the video to resume playback at a point just after the clip.

In another example, selected video clips may be excluded from the videocontent to create a revised video content. Video content producers mayuse pre-populated video clips to create different versions of theircontent, such as a “child-friendly” version of a film that removes anyscenes inappropriate for children.

As another example, a collection of all musical number clips or allaction scenes could be aggregated into a single video clip.

As discussed above, video clips may be used to interact with videocontent while it is playing (e.g., by causing a particular clip to loopcontinuously). Clips may also be used interactively to share clips withother users or to share data that allows video content producers toprovide a more personalized or otherwise improved user experience byusing data personal to the user or aggregating data to make suggestionsto other users. Video clips may also be exported into new data filesthat may be used in various ways. For example, clips may be exportedinto independent, standalone video, image, and/or audio files.

Where components or modules of the disclosed interface are implementedin whole or in part using software, in one embodiment, these softwareelements can be implemented to operate with a computing or processingmodule capable of carrying out the functionality described with respectthereto. After reading this description, it will become apparent to aperson skilled in the relevant art how to implement the disclosure usingother computing modules or architectures.

As used herein, the term module might describe a given unit offunctionality that can be performed in accordance with one or moreimplementations. As used herein, a module might be implemented utilizingany form of hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For example,one or more processors, controllers, ASICs, PLAs, PALs, CPLDs, FPGAs,logical components, software routines or other mechanisms might beimplemented to make up a module. In implementation, the various modulesdescribed herein might be implemented as discrete modules or thefunctions and features described can be shared in part or in total amongone or more modules. In other words, as would be apparent to one ofordinary skill in the art after reading this description, the variousfeatures and functionality described herein may be implemented in anygiven application and can be implemented in one or more separate orshared modules in various combinations and permutations. Even thoughvarious features or elements of functionality may be individuallydescribed or claimed as separate modules, one of ordinary skill in theart will understand that these features and functionality can be sharedamong one or more common software and hardware elements, and suchdescription shall not require or imply that separate hardware orsoftware components are used to implement such features orfunctionality.

Referring now to FIG. 12, computing module 500 may represent, forexample, computing or processing capabilities found within desktop,laptop and notebook computers; hand-held computing devices (PDA's, smartphones, cell phones, palmtops, tablets, etc.); or any other type ofspecial-purpose or general-purpose computing devices as may beappropriate. Computing module 500 might also represent computingcapabilities embedded within or otherwise available to a given device.For example, a computing module might be found in other electronicdevices such as, for example, televisions, home theaters, Blu-Ray discplayers, DVD players, in-car entertainment systems, video game consoles,video download or streaming devices, portable DVD players and otherelectronic devices that might include some form of processingcapability.

Computing module 500 might include, for example, one or more processors,controllers, control modules, or other processing devices, such as aprocessor 504. Processor 504 might be implemented using ageneral-purpose or special-purpose processing engine such as, forexample, a microprocessor, controller, or other control logic. In theillustrated example, processor 504 is connected to a bus 502, althoughany communication medium can be used to facilitate interaction withother components of computing module 500 or to communicate externally.

Computing module 500 might also include one or more memory modules,simply referred to herein as main memory 508. Memory may include anynon-transitory storage medium. For example, preferably random accessmemory (RAM) or other dynamic memory, might be used for storinginformation and instructions to be executed by processor 504. Mainmemory 508 might also be used for storing temporary variables or otherintermediate information during execution of instructions to be executedby processor 504. Computing module 500 might likewise include a readonly memory (“ROM”) or other static storage device coupled to bus 502for storing static information and instructions for processor 504. Thecomputing module 500 might also include one or more various forms ofinformation storage mechanism 510, which might include, for example, amagnetic tape drive, an optical disc drive, a solid state drive, or anyother non-volatile memory.

Computing module 500 might also include a communications interface 520.Communications interface 520 might be used to allow software and data tobe transferred between computing module 500 and external devices.Examples of communications interface 520 might include a modem orsoftmodem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet, network interfacecard, WiMedia, IEEE 802.XX or other interface), a communications port(such as for example, a USB port, IR port, RS232 port Bluetooth®interface, or other port), or other communications interface. Softwareand data transferred via communications interface 520 might typically becarried on signals, which can be electronic, electromagnetic (whichincludes optical) or other signals capable of being exchanged by a givencommunications interface 520. These signals might be provided tocommunications interface 520 via a channel 525. This channel 525 mightcarry signals and might be implemented using a wired or wirelesscommunication medium. Some examples of a channel might include a phoneline, a cellular link, an RF link, an optical link, a network interface,a local or wide area network, and other wired or wireless communicationschannels.

Computing module 500 might also include one or more user inputs 530. Theuser input allows for the user to enter commands to the computing module500 and interact with it. Examples of user inputs might include acomputer mouse, a keyboard, a touch-sensitive screen, a stylus, amousepad, a joystick, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a camera, a remotecontrol, or any other user input mechanism. These user inputs may beused to interact with the disclosed interface.

The computer module 500 might also include one or more user outputinterfaces 540. The user output interfaces 540 might be used to interactwith the user by presenting information or sensory outputs for the user.Examples of user output interfaces might include visual outputs, such asa display screen or monitor, or audio outputs, such as a speaker orheadphone output.

In this document, the terms “computer readable medium” and “computerusable medium” are used to generally refer to media such as, forexample, memory 508, storage unit 510, and channel 525. These and othervarious forms of computer readable media or computer usable media may beinvolved in carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructionsto a processing device for execution. Such instructions embodied on themedium, are generally referred to as “computer program code” or a“computer program product” (which may be grouped in the form of computerprograms or other groupings). When executed, such instructions mightenable the computing module 500 to perform features or functions of thepresent disclosure as discussed herein.

While various embodiments of the present disclosure have been describedabove, it should be understood that they have been presented by way ofexample only, and not of limitation. Likewise, the various diagrams maydepict an example architectural or other configuration for thedisclosure, which is done to aid in understanding the features andfunctionality that can be included. The disclosure is not restricted tothe illustrated example architectures or configurations, but the desiredfeatures can be implemented using a variety of alternative architecturesand configurations. Indeed, it will be apparent to one of skill in theart how alternative functional, logical or physical partitioning andconfigurations can be implemented to implement the desired features.Additionally, with regard to flow diagrams, operational descriptions andmethod claims, the order in which the steps are presented herein shallnot mandate that various embodiments be implemented to perform therecited functionality in the same order unless the context dictatesotherwise. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure shouldnot be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.

Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unlessotherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposedto limiting. As examples of the foregoing: the term “including” shouldbe read as meaning “including, without limitation” or the like; the term“example” is used to provide exemplary instances of the item indiscussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof; the terms “a” or“an” should be read as meaning “at least one,” “one or more” or thelike; and adjectives such as “conventional,” “traditional,” “normal,”“standard,” “known” and terms of similar meaning should not be construedas limiting the item described to a given time period or to an itemavailable as of a given time, but instead should be read to encompassconventional, traditional, normal, or standard technologies that may beavailable or known now or at any time in the future. Likewise, wherethis document refers to technologies that would be apparent or known toone of ordinary skill in the art, such technologies encompass thoseapparent or known to the skilled artisan now or at any time in thefuture.

Although the disclosure has been presented with reference only to thepresently preferred embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that various modifications can be made without departing fromthis disclosure.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: presenting a videoplayback interface comprising: a primary viewing area on which anoriginal video content is played; a timeline to indicate progress ofvideo playback via the positioning of a playback scrubber; and a clipicon to activate a clip interaction mode; receiving first data generatedby a user actuating the clip icon; in response to receiving the firstdata, activating a clip interaction mode by replacing the video playbackinterface with a video clip interface for a user to create a video clipfrom the original video content, wherein replacing the video playbackinterface with the video clip interface comprises: replacing theplayback scrubber with a first clip scrubber and a second clip scrubber,wherein the first and second clip scrubbers are selectable by a user;and automatically defining an initial selected clip region by placingthe first clip scrubber at a first initial point on the timeline and thesecond clip scrubber at a second initial point on the timeline, whereinthe initial selected clip region is defined as the area on the timelinebetween the first initial point and the second initial point, whereinthe first initial point is set to a location of the playback scrubberprior to activating the clip interaction mode, and wherein the secondinitial point is set to a pre-determined location on the timeline beyondthe first initial point, wherein the pre-determined location isdetermined using the first initial point and one of a minimum cliplength and a maximum clip length, wherein the maximum clip length isless than a total length of the original video content; receiving astart point from the user in response to the user modifying orconfirming the first initial point of the first clip scrubber; receivingan end point for the second clip scrubber from the user in response tothe user modifying or confirming the second initial point of the secondclip scrubber; using the first and second clip scrubbers to define afirst video clip that is a portion of the original video contentspanning the area of the timeline between the start point and the endpoint; presenting a first clip window that shows an image correspondingto the start point of the first video clip; presenting at least part ofa second clip window that shows an image corresponding to the end pointof the first video clip; receive second data generated by the useractuating a save control for saving the first video clip defined usingthe first and second clip scrubbers; in response to receiving the seconddata, saving the first video clip for later playback by the user,wherein the first video clip is saved to a collection of saved videoclips of one or more original video contents, and wherein each of thesaved video clips in the collection is a portion of a corresponding oneof the one or more original video contents; providing a user interfacefor displaying user-selectable thumbnail images of the collection ofsaved video clips, including the saved first video clip, and allowingthe user to select one of the saved video clips to play by selecting athumbnail; and in response to the user selecting an icon associated withone of the user-selectable thumbnail images, splitting the oneuser-selectable thumbnail image into two user-selectable options,wherein a first of the user-selectable options allows the user to renamea selected clip associated with the one user-selectable thumbnail image,wherein a second of the user-selectable options allows the user toremove the selected clip associated with the one user-selectablethumbnail image.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receivinga command to remove a video clip from the original video content, andplaying the original video content with one or more video clips removedfrom the original video content.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: playing the original video content; and presenting abookmark during playing of the original video content, the bookmarkcorresponding to the saved first video clip.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein the video clip interaction option is presented when playing ofthe original video content approaches the bookmark.
 5. The method ofclaim 4, wherein the video clip interaction option is a looping option,and the method further comprises: receiving a command to loop the savedfirst video clip via the video clip interaction option; and playing thesaved first video clip on a repeating loop.
 6. The method of claim 1,further comprising sorting the collection of video clips according to apre-determined criteria.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprisingreceiving an information tag from the user to create a pre-determinedcriteria on which the collection of video clips may be sorted.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the collection of saved video clips isassociated with a particular set of user credentials.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein receiving a start point and an end point from the userfurther comprises providing assistance to the user in selecting a startpoint and an end point.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein providingassistance to the user in selecting a start point and an end point isbased on one or more quality factors to determine a fitness of aparticular frame to act as a start point or an end point.
 11. The methodof claim 10, further comprising receiving a user command indicatingwhich of the one or more quality factors are to be considered inproviding assistance to the user in selecting a start point and an endpoint.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein at least one of the one ormore quality factors is based on at least one of the following:dialogue, image quality, frame audio content, and/or frame imagecontent.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein a portion of the videocontent cannot be selected as a start point or an end point.
 14. Amethod comprising: receiving video clip information identifying one ormore previously saved video clips of an original video content, whereineach of the one or more previously saved video clips was created fromthe original video content; presenting a video player interfacecomprising: a primary viewing area in which the original video contentis played; one or more video clip indicators which are associated withthe one or more previously saved video clips and provide a visualindication of the position of the one or more previously saved videoclips within the original video content; and a video progress indicatorwhich provides a visual indication of the progress of the original videocontent as it is played, and wherein the one or more video clipindicators are positioned along the video progress indicator so as toprovide a visual indication of the position of the one or morepreviously saved video clips within the original video content; definingan initial selected clip region in the video player interface by placinga first video clip indicator of the one or more video clip indicators ata first initial point on the video progress indicator and a second videoclip indicator of the one or more video clip indicators at a secondinitial point on the video progress indicator, wherein the initialselected clip region is defined as a portion of the video progressindicator between the first initial point and the second initial point,wherein the first initial point is set to a location of the videoprogress indicator, and wherein the second initial point is set to apre-determined location on video progress indicator beyond the firstvideo clip indicator, wherein the pre-determined location is determinedusing the first initial point and one of a minimum clip length and amaximum clip length, wherein the maximum clip length is less than atotal length of the original video content; displaying a video cliplooping option when the progress of the original video contentapproaches any of the one or more video clip indicators, wherein thevideo clip looping option, when selected, plays a previously saved videoclip on a repeated loop, wherein the previously saved video clip isassociated with a video clip indicator that caused display of the videoclip looping option, and wherein the video clip looping option, afterbeing selected, displays a stop looping icon by transforming the videoclip looping option into the stop looping icon; causing the video cliplooping option to disappear when the video progress indicator has movedpast any of the one or more video clip indicators; and in response tothe user selecting an icon associated with a user-selectable thumbnailimage, splitting the user-selectable thumbnail image into twouser-selectable options, wherein a first of the user-selectable optionsallows the user to rename a selected clip associated with theuser-selectable thumbnail image, wherein a second of the user-selectableoptions allows the user to remove the selected clip associated with theuser-selectable thumbnail image.
 15. The method of claim 14, furthercomprising: receiving user input selecting the looping option; andplaying, on a repeating loop, the previously saved video clip associatedwith the video clip indicator which caused display of the video clipinteraction option.
 16. The method of claim 14, further comprisingdisplaying user-selectable thumbnail images of a collection of savedvideo clips created from the one or more previously saved video clips,wherein the collection of saved video clips is associated with aparticular set of user credentials.
 17. The method of claim 14, whereinreceiving video clip information identifying one or more previouslysaved video clips within the original video content comprises receivingone or more video clip suggestions.
 18. The method of claim 17, whereinthe one or more video clip suggestions are based on video clips selectedby other users.
 19. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprisingan instruction set configured to cause a computing device to perform:presenting a video playback interface comprising: a primary viewing areaon which an original video content is played; a timeline to indicateprogress of video playback via the positioning of a playback scrubber;and a clip icon to activate a clip interaction mode; receiving firstdata generated by a user actuating the clip icon; in response toreceiving the first data, activating a clip interaction mode byreplacing the video playback interface with a video clip interface for auser to create a video clip from the original video content, whereinreplacing the video playback interface with the video clip interfacecomprises: replacing the playback scrubber with a first clip scrubberand a second clip scrubber, wherein the first and second clip scrubbersare selectable by a user; and defining an initial selected clip regionby placing the first clip scrubber at a first initial point on thetimeline and the second clip scrubber at a second initial point on thetimeline, wherein the initial selected clip region is defined as thearea on the timeline between the first initial point and the secondinitial point, and wherein the second initial point is set to apre-determined location on the timeline beyond the first initial point,wherein the pre-determined location is determined using the firstinitial point and one of a minimum clip length and a maximum clip lengththat is less than a total length of the original video; receiving astart point from the user by the user providing input via the first clipscrubber; receiving an end point from the user by the user providinginput via the second clip scrubber; using the start point, the endpoint, and the original video content to define a first video clip thatis a portion of the original video content spanning the area of thetimeline between the start point and the end point; receive second datagenerated by the user actuating a save control for saving the firstvideo clip defined using the start point and the end point received fromthe user; in response to receiving the second data, saving the firstvideo clip for later playback by the user, wherein the first video clipis saved to a collection of saved video clips of one or more originalvideo contents, and wherein each of the saved video clips in thecollection is a portion of a corresponding one of the one or moreoriginal video contents; providing a user interface for displayinguser-selectable thumbnail images of the collection of saved video clips,including the saved first video clip, and allowing the user to selectone of the saved video clips to play by selecting a thumbnail; and inresponse to the user selecting an icon associated with one of theuser-selectable thumbnail images, split the one user-selectablethumbnail image into two user-selectable options, wherein a first of theuser-selectable options allows the user to rename a selected clipassociated with the one user-selectable thumbnail image, wherein asecond of the user-selectable options allows the user to remove theselected clip associated with the one user-selectable thumbnail image.20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19 comprisingan instruction set further configured to cause a computing device toperform: playing the original video content; and presenting a bookmarkduring playing of the original video content, the bookmark correspondingto the saved first video clip.
 21. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 19, wherein the instruction set is further configured tocause a computing device to perform: receiving a command to remove aselected video clip from the original video content and playing theoriginal video content with the selected video clip removed.
 22. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19 comprising aninstruction set further configured to cause a computing device toperform presenting a video clip interaction option.
 23. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 22, wherein the videoclip interaction option is presented when playing of the original videocontent approaches the bookmark.
 24. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 23, wherein the video clip interaction optionis a looping option, and the instruction set is further configured tocause a computing device to perform receiving via the video clipinteraction option a command to loop the saved first video clip; andplaying the saved first video clip on a repeating loop.
 25. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein receivingthe start point and the end point from the user further comprisesproviding assistance to the user in selecting the start point and theend point.
 26. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25,wherein providing assistance to the user in selecting the start pointand the end point is based on one or more quality factors to determine afitness of a particular frame to act as the start point or the endpoint.
 27. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 26,wherein the instruction set is further configured to cause a computingdevice to perform receiving a user command indicating which of the oneor more quality factors are to be considered in providing assistance tothe user in selecting the start point and the end point.
 28. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein at leastone of the one or more quality factors is based on at least one of thefollowing: dialogue, image quality, frame audio content, and/or frameimage content.
 29. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim26, wherein a portion of the video content cannot be selected as thestart point or the end point.
 30. A non-transitory computer readablemedium comprising an instruction set configured to cause a computingdevice to perform: receiving video clip information identifying one ormore previously saved video clips of an original video content, whereineach of the one or more previously saved video clips was created fromthe original video content; and presenting a video player interfacecomprising: a primary viewing area in which the original video contentis played, one or more video clip indicators which are associated withthe one or more previously saved video clips and provide a visualindication of the position of the one or more previously saved videoclips within the original video content, and a video progress indicatorwhich provides a visual indication of the progress of the original videocontent as it is played, wherein the one or more video clip indicatorsare positioned along the video progress indicator so as to provide avisual indication of the position of the one or more previously savedvideo clips within the original video content; displaying a video cliplooping option when the progress of the original video contentapproaches any of the one or more video clip indicators, wherein thevideo clip looping option, when selected, plays a previously saved videoclip on a repeated loop, wherein the previously saved video clip isassociated with a video clip indicator that caused display of the videoclip looping option; and wherein the video clip looping option, afterbeing selected, displays a stop looping icon; causing the video cliplooping option to disappear by fading from view after a pre-determinedperiod of time; and in response to the user selecting an icon associatedwith a user-selectable thumbnail image, splitting the user-selectablethumbnail image into two user-selectable options, wherein a first of theuser-selectable options allows the user to rename a selected one of thepreviously saved video clips that is associated with the user-selectablethumbnail image, wherein a second of the user-selectable options allowsthe user to remove the selected one of the previously saved video clipsthat is associated with the user-selectable thumbnail image.
 31. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 30, wherein theinstruction set is further configured to cause a computing device toperform: receiving user input selecting the looping option; and playing,on a repeating loop, the previously saved video clip associated with thevideo clip indicator which caused display of the video clip interactionoption.
 32. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 30,wherein receiving video clip information identifying one or morepreviously saved video clips within the original video content comprisesreceiving one or more video clip suggestions.
 33. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 32, wherein the one or more video clipsuggestions are based on video clips selected by other users.
 34. Themethod of claim 19, wherein receiving the start point from the user bythe user providing input via the first clip scrubber and receiving theend point from the user by the user providing input via the second clipscrubber comprises: receiving third data generated by the user by movingthe first clip scrubber to the start point and the second clip scrubberto the end point.
 35. The method of claim 34, further comprising inresponse to receiving the third data: displaying a first clip windowshowing an image frame corresponding to the original video content atthe start point; and displaying a second clip window showing an imageframe corresponding to the original video content at the end point. 36.The method of 14, wherein each of the one or more video clip indicatorsare bookmarks positioned along the video progress indicator.